ok the pob I am having is this, when I make a sharp left turn(like at intersections) the car pulls to the left bad, when I make sharp right turns it pulls to the right. if I make a small turn in the opposite direction that it is pulling then it straitens out and drives strait(can take hands off wheel).

any idea what this could be?
car sat almost a year up north in a garage be fore I got it. And I have Easy Street air ride. It should not have anything to do with the wheels I just put on cause it did this with the stockers on. I thought it was just alignment but when it corrects it self and swaps sides is where it lost me.

thanx for the help.

 

I notice a lot of tire scuffing when I turn my xB like the front tires are not each turning the right amount for the steering angle. You may want to look at the inside tire to see if it is turning more than normal. The inside tire is supposed to turn more than the outside tire due to the smaller circle it is making and a line perpendicular to the front tires should intersect with each other at a point on a line perpendicular to the rear tires. Tie rod ends where they connect to the steering arm on each front hub assembly should be checked. Also check your steering rack for anything loose.

 

check your ball joints......

 

do you think if I re greased everything up front would be a good start?

 

i wish there was some grease n!pples on all the greaseable points

 

Dude, really shake down your front suspension, get it off the ground and use a pry bar to flex the joints,, check for play. That really sounds like something loose, or has moved.. upper/lower control arms, joints, steering rack, etc.,.

 

I noticed this as well, almost like it was a locked differential. However, I must point out an error in your post. The outboard tire should rotate more than the inside tire because it is traveling a farther distance.

Either way, I noticed this on mine and it doesn't seem normal.

 

No I mean that the angle of the tire is greater for the inside tire than the outside tire not the rotation on the ground. I think they calculated it wrong due to the wheel base and the only way to properly compensate it is to move the position of the steering knuckle relative to the lower ball joint. When I turn on sand patches I can feel the front end jumping sideways even at really slow speeds because the front tires are not at the correct angle. In Goths case if the inside tire turned too much it would have the over steer effect. This would be cause by the steering knuckles being too far inward - closer to the rack - causing the inside tire to turn to the maximum angle too soon (tie rod straightest).

 

thanx guys, yesterday I noticed that when sitting still andI try nad turn that it will turn, and then act like it gets stuck and I have to put a little more force behind it to get it to keep on going.

next chance I get I will jack the car up and craw up under there and see what I can see.

 

sounds like a PS pump is going bad?

 

Check fluid levels but pulling is usually alignment issues. I notice my xB turns a lot easier with 40psi in the tires too. When you get it up off the ground it should still be hard to turn the steering wheel with the engine off but it should be smooth - thurning the wheels from side to side will also pump fluid through the PS pump without the engine running so you can flush it if you want. I woul dbe checking for play in the wheels - grab them in the air and wiggle them left and right and in and out at the bottom and listen for clunks etc.

 

Any updates on this? I'm experiencing the same problem, but mine started right after i put on my cusco camber plates.

 

this could be due to an alignment angle called caster , which affects the returnability of the steering wheel i suggest taking the car to the alingment shop and having the the tech give you a print out of your specs your caster angles may be out of spec ,they could be even which would explain why the car pulls hard to both sides when the wheel is turned but they may still be out of spec. If they r not even on both sides the car will tend to favor or drift to the more positive side
1. the more negative the caster the faster the wheel will return
2. the more positive the caster the harder it is for the wheels to center themselves due to the weight of the engine sitting more directly over the tires than designed.
for example : most drift cars r dialed in to have lots of negative caster for quick steering returnability hope this helps sorry for the long post

 

I have this very same issue. I have noticed it since I got the car 2 years ago. it has gotten worse I would say over time. I lowered the car with df210 and have 15in 205/55 bfgoodrich gsports and got everything aligned. but I still feel it. if I turn the right, sitting still, I hear and feel a pop in my steering. I do not experience this turning to the left. it almost feels like play in the wheel. still think this is caster?

 

Now I gotcha. My mistake.

 

yes it could very well still be caster even though you had an alingment . the good folks at toyota didnt design a caster angle adjustment into our front ends so there really isn't much the the alingment tech can do about that
here is a list of your alingments worst enemies
1. train tracks (go slow)
2.pot holes
3.proper psi in tires ( if not correct the car will pull )
4. speed bumps (go slow)
braveliltoaster I suggest jacking up the front end and shaking the wheel from side to side and check for play ,clunking noises, have a buddy get in the car and slightly turn the steering wheel back and forth while you hold the tire (if the tire does not move as soon as he turns the wheel then you may have some play in your steering rack) hope this helps

 

so what is the fix for this? If the alignment shop can't fix this. Cause I got them to fix my camber, and toe.

 

caster really shouldn't be too off unless you hit something. if you get desperate, you could oblong (towards the back) the bolt holes hold the 3 upper strut mount bolts and shift it back to give more positive caster and better steering returnability, but in actuality, you shouldn't need to do that at all.

 

to me it sounds as if one of your seals are bad in your rack. or maybe it's binding

 

while you seem to be somewhat knowledgeable, i think you got a little confused. the more positive the caster, the harder it is to steer, but the better the steering wheel returnability. if you have too much negative, the steering is easier, but it will tend to cause wheel shimmy and will not have much returnability at all.